The West Texas Jazz Party: Sixty Years of Classic Jazz in Odessa, TX

The West Texas Jazz Party continues to hold the top spot when it comes to longevity for jazz parties, having celebrated its 60th anniversary in early June at the MCM Elegante Hotel in Odessa. Attendance was up from the previous year, with Dan Barrett, Allen Vache, Jon-Erik Kellso, Harry Allan, Rossano Sportiello and Chuck Redd heading the list of all-stars holding forth on stage over the three days. Appearing for the first time were vocalist Dawn Lambert, pianist Larry Fuller, trumpeter Tim Clarke and Scott Silbert on reeds, bringing the total of musicians who have performed at the Party over six decades to 2,012.

Businessman Dick Gibson is credited with initiating the jazz party concept in 1963 when he brought a group of musicians he liked and some of his friends together over Labor Day weekend in the mountains of Colorado. One of the attendees was Dr. O.A. “Jimmie” Fulcher from the Lone Star State who wondered why West Texas couldn’t host a similar party. The first Odessa Jazz Party was held in 1967 over five nights and attended by 124 stalwart jazz enthusiasts.

The Midland Jazz Association was formed in 1977, and the Midland Jazz Classic was born. The two groups merged in 1988 under the umbrella of the West Texas Jazz Society. The lineups from those early parties included such famous names as Teddy Wilson, Barney Kessel, Eddie Miller, Vic Dickenson, Joe Venuti, Billy Butterfield, Zoot Sims, Dick Hyman and Bob Wilber.

The WTJS website recalls some fond memories and familiar names who have appeared “deep in the west of Texas” over the years.

♫ – Jack Lesberg was Music Director for the first 35 years.

♫ – Flip Phillips was the ultimate set leader, based on his Jazz at the Philharmonic experience.

♫ – Pee Wee Erwin was right behind Flip and provided high-energy sets.

♫ – Ralph Sutton always set the tempos in his sets.

♫ – Milt Hinton liked to turn his bass up louder as he got older.

♫ – Red Norvo was deaf, and the rhythm section had to follow him.

♫ – Bud Freeman affected a British accent, but he was born in Chicago.

♫ – Jake Hanna was wickedly funny and disliked people with no sense of humor.

♫ – Peanuts Hucko liked the same arrangements played the same way.

♫ – Bob Haggard was considered by some to be the finest overall musician of his generation.

♫ – One musician with memory issues was caught trying to check out a couple days early.

♫ – Musicians who could not hold their liquor did not get asked back.